


Out of Sunnydale

by phoenixjustice



Series: Out Of 'verse [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Comics)
Genre: Caleb is still evil af, Ditto for Angel lol, F/M, M/M, Mentions of Time Travel, Spike isn't happy having to deal with Angel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-16
Packaged: 2019-03-19 00:18:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13692864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixjustice/pseuds/phoenixjustice
Summary: Spike/Buffy Summers, mentions of past Angel/Buffy, past Angelus/William, etc.Sequel to Out of Sight. Spoilers up to season 10 of BTVS, season 5 of Angel, and Angel and Faith.Amidst looking for a killer (and a place to host their wedding) Buffy and Spike run into some familiar (and not so familiar) faces...





	1. Familiar Faces

Out of Sunnydale

By: PhoenixJustice

Disclaimer: Buffy the Vampire Slayer is owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and other things that are not me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for language, violence, sexual situations, etc.

Pairing: Spike/Buffy Summers, mentions of past Angel/Buffy, past Angelus/William, etc.

Setting: Sequel to  _Out of Sight._  Spoilers up season 10 of BTVS, season 5 of Angel, and Angel and Faith.

Summary: Amidst looking for a killer (and a place to host their wedding) Buffy and Spike run into some familiar (and not so familiar) faces...

A/N: Some lines taken from season 2 of Angel "There's No Place Like Plrtz Glrb."

A/N2:  _Italics_  for thoughts and flashbacks.

Part Two of the  _Out of_  'verse

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Chapter One - Familiar Faces

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"Are-are you sure about that?" Fred asks, a bit nervously.

"Trust me." Cordelia assures her. "Tacos everywhere - and - soap!"

"Yo, that portal jumping is a fun ride." Gunn says. "We sell it to a theme park, we could get paid!"

Angel pushes towards the front, excitement obvious in his face and body. "Okay. Can I say it? I wanna say it."

"Say what?" Wesley asks him.

He pushes open the double doors and starts to walk into the lobby.

"There's no place like-"

He stops when he hears something and holds up a hand for everyone to halt as well. Everyone, save Fred, instantly looks on their guard, whereas Fred looks fearful.

"Like I said, I just don't get why we're waiting here. 's obvious Peaches is still out an' about, so why don't we just-"

Spike. If he had been on his guard before, he was on it double now. Wherever Spike went, trouble was sure to follow. Last he had heard from Buffy, Spike was supposed to be 'safe' now, unable to attack humans or feed from them due to a Chip in his head. But if he had gotten it out...

He makes his way quietly inside and the others do the same.

"And like  _I_  said, he'll be back soon. Like  _really_  soon. I thought you trusted me?"

Spike snorts. "Don't even try that, pet. You damn well know the answer to that."

"Yeah, well, I-"

Angel stops.

As does Buffy.

She stares at them all with as wide eyes as they-especially him-had to be giving her. Spike follows behind her, not looking all together too surprised at seeing them there (despite his words just moments ago.)

"Who's...who's that?" Fred asks quietly.

"It's Buffy." Angel says quietly.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

They hadn't even planned to be in L.A, originally. At least, it wasn't what  _he_  had in mind-

_"Thinkin' something like Amsterdam. Or Prague."_

_She raises a disbelieving eyebrow at him._

_"What?" He huffs. "I thought they were good choices. Not_ _**too** _ _bloody cliched, like Paris or shite like tha-"_

_"No," She says. "Not that. It's just...Prague? Really? After what happened there last time for you?"_

_He shrugs. "Wasn't_ _**all** _ _bad, besides that. And I thought...I wanted to make new memories with you. Guess it doesn't really matter where." He lets out a huff of an unneeded breath as she embraces him tightly. He smiles and hugs her back, feeling the lovely warmth of her._

_"You're a wonderful man. You know that, right?" She looks up at him, smiling. She continued to surprise and delight him and she certainly never bored him. Her constant love and trust for him always humbled him. He had promised to himself to never give her a reason to feel like she made the wrong choice, coming back, choosing_ _**him** _ _to be with._

_"Hmm...don't think I heard you right, Slayer." He raises a brow at her and grins, moving the brow up and down. "Think I might need to hear it again."_

_She rolls her eyes but leans up the small distance between them to kiss him. They both linger there for a few moments, until her need for air forces them apart. Her eyes are wide, her pupils dilated with obvious desire and he resists the urge to shag her right then and there against the nearest wall._

_They were currently at their (her words) crypt, but the last few days they had been going between the crypt and her mother's house, which he couldn't blame her for; after everything with Glory, plus her mother's illness, it was no wonder that she wanted to spend some extra time with Joyce and Dawn._

_('Plus,' she tells him later, in bed, after they're both pleasantly spent. 'It won't be long until we get our own 'official' place, so might as well get in as much free laundry and meals while we can.'_

_She gives him a cheeky grin and he loves her more than he can possibly say.)_

_"So." She continues their conversation, her cheeks pleasantly flushed. "Amsterdam, Prague...ooh, what about New Orleans? French Quarter?"_

_"Nah," He shakes his head. "Too well done too; that Anne Rice bird kind of ruined that place for most of us vamps. Too many dumb fledges-and humans, even-who think themselves Lestat. Gets annoyin'. Bad enough we gotta deal with Drac."_

_"Eh," She shrugs. "He gets better later."_

_He raises a disbelieving eyebrow at her._

_"He_ _**does** _ _," She insists, hands running up and down his arms. "Though I'm pretty sure he's also like_ _**super** _ _in love with Xander-"_

_"Okay. After that brain breaking thought," He says, with a shudder. He, of course, had nothing against two men together (had been with a man-or vampire-himself, after all.) It was just the thought of_ _**Dracula** _ _in general._ _**Or** _ _the boy... not people he wanted to imagine naked. "Maybe-"_

_"Hmm." She says, interupting him. "Maybe we should think of a place to have the ceremony and/or reception at first? I-I dunno. Never planned a wedding before..."_

_He eyes her, eyes narrowing at her pondering look._

_"Uh huh..." He drags out. "You have somewhere in mind for this thing? Cause I already said I wasn't going to do a Chapel-"_

_"No. No a chapel or church wasn't what I had in mind..."_

_And he knows, without her even saying it._

_"Oh_ _**hell** _ _no!" He barks, moving out of her embrace. She frowns at him. No, she_ _**pouts** _ _. He points a finger at her. "Oh no you don't, missy; you know it's not fair to play that trump card."_

_"But, Spike," She protests. "It's like-super big. We could do the ceremony, the reception_ _**and** _ _the guests could stay there! Win-win! It-"_

_"Is_ _**ran** _ _," He growls. "By_ _**your** _ _ex and_ _**my** _ _grandsire."_

_"Not just_ _**my** _ _ex." She mutters._

_His eyes widen. She didn't sound jealous, like she was jealous of the fact that others had been with Angel. No she said it like she knew that he and Spike had..._

_"You know about that?" He asks, in disbelief._

_She shrugs. "Yeah, well...you learn a few things over time." She didn't seem bothered at all by the fact that he and Angelus had slept together before._

_"Yeah, but even so!" He exclaims, getting back on track to the original point of his argument. "You can't really think that he'd_ _**ever** _ _allow me to use the place to get married to_ _**you** _ _, do you?"_

_"I-" She raises a hand and then lowers it. She looks at him with a sheepish look. "Okay, you're probably right..."_

_He lets out an unneeded sigh of relief._

_"I'd still like to look it over though."_

_He groans._

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

_Still, despite her words to him, she wasn't_ _**that** _ _set on L.A._ _**or** _ _the Hyperion as place for their wedding and/or reception. They hadn't made any big plans about it yet (though her mother kept hinting that she'd like a bigger wedding, leaving a bridal magazine or two around her house with certain pages folded at the corners.)_

_In fact, being away from Angel for awhile was probably a_ _**good** _ _idea...until the time she needed to intervein with certain things (having knowledge of possible future events was a big bonus, sometimes.) Things like Connor's kidnapping by Holtz. She'd kill Holtz herself first if she had to._

_Angel...probably wasn't going to take her and Spike's relationship all too well. There was so much twisted history between all_ _**three** _ _of them in different ways now (not even counting the things that_ _**she** _ _experienced later in a time that would no longer happen for either of the vampires) that it left things_ _**more** _ _than a little awkward at times._

_For all that Spike disparaged Angel, he actually longed for his acceptance and friendship-things he never got when Angel called himself (called, not when he "was", for Angel was certainly Angelus and Angelus was Angel. One person. Angel just didn't see it that way, just yet) Angelus and Spike still called himself by his given name, William._

_And Angel admired Spike's tenacity and wit, liked his poetry (for all that Angelus had mocked him for it) but felt ashamed of his own talent at art, having a hard time showing it to anyone._

_And even besides that, the whole thing that they had slept together once upon a time made things a bit awkward for them as well. She still remembered (in her time, years in the future) when they had finally admitted how things had actually went between them and was surprised that she_ _**wasn't** _ _surprised at the news. It hadn't disgusted her, of course. Merely made her curious how the Angelus of then acted about something like that, raised Catholic boy he was (until made into a monster by Darla. Not because he was a vampire, but because Darla gave him the tools to become a monster.)_

_So going to L.A. probably would have been best to wait until later, at a time of need; get in, get out, and head back home before Angel even realized what really happened._

_So of course something had to happen to change that._

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

_"Ugh. Nasty business." Her mother says, shaking her head, putting her newspaper down._

_"What?"_

_"Murders." She tells Buffy, after checking the room to make sure Dawn wasn't around. Though Buffy knew Dawn heard words like that-and worse-more often. It wouldn't scar her to hear the word. "Apparently Los Angelus is dealing with a serial killer. Isn't that where Angel is? Shouldn't he be doing something about it?"_

_She shrugs. "Vanilla serial killers are supposed to be the police's thing, mom; don't really think Angel has the time to take on_ _**all** _ _of those plus all the_ _**supernatural** _ _killings and things as well."_

_Still, she's morbidly intrigued, despite herself. She picks up the paper and glosses over most of the page, until she gets to the bit about the murders._

_And her stomach plummets to her feet._

_This is the fifth killing discovered in the past three months._

_All are females, all around the same age, though with different descriptions._

_Police say they have a serial killer on their hands, because the killer leaves a calling card in the grip of every victim._

_A clerical collar._

_"Buffy?" Her mother asks her, in obvious concern. She touches her arm. "Are you alright?"_

_She starts a bit, looking up from the paper at her mother. "I-I'm fine. It's just sad, is all."_

_When she meets Spike later, after he spends the day teaching Al some things (he had protested about it, but she knew it was all bluster; she knew he was enjoying having someone he could teach properly. Not a minion, but someone more like a childe. Spike had never had that with a fledgling. Ford he only sired because he had promised him, he sired his mother Anne because she was dying (and that had turned out disasterous) and those others at the Bronze and the like (and that_ _**really** _ _didn't count because he was under control of the First and didn't want to sire anyone, but had been forced to) she shows him the newspaper._

_"Yeah? Bad luck for the girls," He tells her, handing the newspaper back over after looking it over quickly. "Dunno what I'm supposed to be seeing here though."_

_"Nothing you're supposed to see in particular," She says, biting on her lip. "Just what_ _**I** _ _see there."_

_"Something you Know of then?" He asks, immediately getting serious._

_She nods, frowning. "I'm pretty sure. A guy named Caleb. He's human-now, but he was...he was a huge problem in my time until we finally managed to kill him. He was working with the First Evil."_

_Spike whistles. "Shit. So big league then, at least later." She nods again. "What about now?"_

_"Now? Same as then, minus the big boost in power. He makes the biggest misogynist look like the next cover star of Feminist Weekly._ _**And** _ _he's a serial killer to boot."_

_"So he's the one been doing these birds in, you think?"_

_"Likely." She mutters. "It fits his M.O. and the fact that he's leaving the collars...it's almost like he_ _**wants** _ _to be cau-" She stops at his look. "What?"_

_"_ _**M.O.** _ _an' all," He says fondly. She flushes and looks away. "I like it. My girl's got brains on her to go with the rest of the_ _**already** _ _delectable package."_

_**My girl** _ _. Hearing the words from Spike never failed to make her happy or to feel a warm glow of happiness, deep within her._

_"So you'll help then?"_

_He eyes her. And sighs. "Yeah, yeah. You already know the answer to that, Slayer. ...Even if I have to look at Captain Forehead's mug, if necessary."_

_He pouts exaggeratedly and she laughs._

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

_"You're_ _**sure** _ _you don't want any help?"_

_"No, but thank you." She tells him, sincerity in her thanks. "We got this. We just want to do it on our own. But thank you for asking, Xander. Really."_

_Considering he was talking about her upcoming marriage to_ _**Spike** _ _and willing to_ _**help** _ _just showed how much of an amazing best friend/brother he was and how much he was maturing already._

_She felt a bit bad about not telling him-and the others-about the_ _**whole** _ _reason she and Spike were actually going to L.A. but she also didn't want to burden them with things they didn't need to be burdened with._

_He nods at her and gives her a big hug._

_"Oi. Hands off. S' mine."_

_They break apart and she rolls her eyes at Spike's flippant tone._

_"Yeah?" Xander says, a brow raised. "Not supposed to be saying that in front of Buffy! What if she found out?!"_

_They all pause and Spike stares at Xander with as much shock as Xander stares at Spike. Xander had genuinely joked with Spike for the first time (first for the two of_ _**them** _ _, anyhow.)_

_"Right. Well." Spike coughs. "Ready to go then, pet?"_

_"Yep. Already told the others goodbye." She turns to look at Xander. "Do me a favor?"_

_"Sure thing, Buff."_

_"Keep an eye on Al while we're gone? He's been good and it's not that I don't trust_ _**him** _ _but-"_

_"He's like a pup still." Spike finishes for her. She nods. "Pretty harmless though, all things considered."_

_"He could use another friend besides me and Spike." She explains. "He seemed to be getting along with you guys pretty well after the stuff with Glory..."_

_Xander shrugs. "He seems nice enough, I guess, for a vampire...you're_ _**sure** _ _about him?" At her nod he seems to relax. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess I could do that. No offence, as I love all of my girls, but it'd be nice to have another guy around to hang out with."_

_"What am I then? Chopped liver?" Spike demands._

_They have that little sort of freaked out stare down again._

_She snorts with laughter and they both turn to glare at her. She smiles sunnily. "And with_ _**that** _ _, me and Spike have to go. See you, Xan."_

_"Later Buff." Xander starts to turn to leave, but pauses. "Later Spike."_

_He's off before either one of them can react._

_"Let's be off then, pet." Spike says briskly, but she can see how that small sentiment meant to him._

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

_"Do you think we did the right thing?" She asks him, as they make their way into L.A. She had been too nervous to do much talking on the car ride to the city, but now that they had arrived, she finds the need to talk much greater, her nerves huge._

_"'bout what?"_

_"Not telling them why we're going. If something happens..." She trails off, biting on her lip._

_Spike stops the car in front of the hotel and turns to look at her. His kind, and intense, blue eyes stare at her with an intensity that always leaves her breathless. He strokes her cheek._

_"I won't let anything happen to you, Buffy." He says softly. "I'd die first. I'd die to protect you."_

_"No." She says fiercely. He looks at her, surprised. Her eyes soften a bit. "No sacrificing. I've...I've already dealt with that enough of that in my life. If we go..." She swallows and looks away._

_He places his hand underneath her chin, forcing her to look at him._

_"If we go, we go together." He says._

_Her eyes fill with tears. "Yes. Because I can't, Spike. I can't do it again. I can't lose you again. I lost you once and it nearly killed me. If I ever lost you again...it_ _**would** _ _kill me."_

_"Not ever going anywhere, Buffy. Until the end and even after, right?"_

_"Forever?" She asks, tears falling from her eyes._

_"Forever."_

_He kisses her._

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

_"Like I said, I just don't get why we're waiting here. 's obvious Peaches is still out an' about, so why don't we just-"_

_"And like I said, he'll be back soon. Like really soon. I thought you trusted me?"_

_He snorts. She was trying to play_ _**that** _ _card?_

_"Don't even try that, pet. You damn well know the answer to that."_

_"Yeah, well, I-"_

_She stops, as does he._

_Angel._

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I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


	2. Planning

Out of Sunnydale

By: PhoenixJustice

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is owned by Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and other things that are not me. I only own this story and make no profit from this.

Warning: Rated M for language, violence, sexual situations, etc.

Pairing: Spike/Buffy Summers, mentions of past Angel/Buffy, past Angelus/William, etc.

Setting: Sequel to  _Out of Sight._  Spoilers up season 10 of BTVS, season 5 of Angel, and Angel and Faith.

Summary: Amidst looking for a killer (and a place to host their wedding) Buffy and Spike run into some familiar (and not so familiar) faces...

A/N2:  _Italics_  for thoughts and flashbacks.

Part Two of the  _Out of_  'verse

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Chapter Two - Planning

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Well, well, in the very flesh this time.

Angel. And his band of Merry Men, apparently. He recognizes the brunette and recognizes Watcher jr, but the rest are unfamiliar to him (though Buffy had told him who each of them were. To him they were strangers. To Buffy...he knew it had to be hard to see  **all**  of them, not just Angel.)

"And Spike." Watcher jr, Wesley, says warily. "What a surprise."

"Can we go in already? I want to get cleaned up." Cordelia says. If she felt any of the obvious tension she wasn't showing it. She merely rolls her eyes and walks past the rest of her group. She stops as she sees Buffy properly now, giving her a surprised smile. "Hey, Buffy. It's-you're not here for another apocalypse are you?"

Buffy shakes her head, giving her what could be construed as a fond smile. "No, Cordelia. No apocalypse. We took care of that while you guys were still hoofing it around Pylea. No, we're just here on something smaller scale."

"Then it's  _definitely_  good to see you then." Cordelia says and Buffy laughs.

"But then why is Spike here?" Angel asks her, all but demands.

He rolls his eyes and snorts, the latter of which gets Angel's attention. "Why do you think, Peaches? Helpin' the Slayer."

"Peaches?" He hears the mousey girl-Fred-whisper, mostly to herself. Apparently he and Fred had been on good terms? Buffy had said as much, though it was a weird thought as he wasn't the Spike that had come to know the Fred of later. He wasn't exactly the Spike Buffy had come to know, through the years, but he was  _her_  Spike nevertheless; she had just come back in time and changed things up a bit.

"Buffy, if you needed help, you could have just-" Angel starts to say.

Buffy shrugs. "What? Asked for your help? Kinda couldn't, big guy; you were in another dimension. Plus there's no one I trust more than Spike to have my back with this."

If he had breath, it would have been taken at that, at her easy and open declaration, right in front of Angel no less. Angel looks as stunned at that statement as Spike feels.

"Buffy, he's-"

Before Angel can go on number four thousand and five of Why Spike Is The Worst, he gets interupted by the other new guy Spike didn't know, Gunn.

"No offense, but-I mean you're the Slayer, right?" Gunn asks Buffy. She nods. "But how did you know we were in Pylea? Not exactly common knowledge."

He looks at her, wondering just how she planned to answer that. She didn't look too bothered by the question and she shrugs again.

"Insider information. One of the-few-perks of being the Slayer." Well that wasn't  _exactly_  a lie... "And Spike is strong; as strong as me. There's no one better to have my back on this."

"I get he's strong, but Buffy," Angel says. "You can't trust him. He's-" He stops in the midst of taking a step forward and his eyes widen for a moment before his jaw clenches.

Aha. He was  _wondering_  when Angel would realize it. Still, he's taken by surprise as Angel gets over to him quickly, giving him a sharp punch to the face. He falls to the ground with a soft thud, hand running over his now aching jaw. Buffy makes a beeline for him, kneeling next to him.

"Are you okay?" She asks, looking at him with worried eyes, a hand running gently over his face.

He nods. "Have had worse before, Slayer." From Angelus especially.

Still, she straightens up, her mouth thinning as she looks over at Angel.

"We didn't come here for your macho postering and jealousy,  _Liam_." She says coldly. "We came here because there are murders going on and figured you'd-you know,  _not_  want that to happen in your city.  _I_ didn't come here for you to take out your anger on him. As  _always_ , you-"

"Buffy." He says sharply. She stops, turning to look at him. He softens a bit. "Pet, he doesn't know exactly what you do, remember?"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The fact that Spike was the one to make  _her_ calm down about Angel was the surprising bit; she had been ready to be the one to step into whatever. But once she saw Angel hit him, the anger had taken over and her mind had remembered the Angel she had known later that had had a hard time of their relationship initially, decreeing it to be something that wouldn't last, that Spike wouldn't be able to sustain the relationship with her but he had, of course, been wrong about that.

Her first relationship with Spike, the future Spike she had known, had lasted until his death (the death that had so very nearly killed  _her_. Only her need to be there for Dawn had kept her alive.)

"Right. You're right. Sorry, Angel." She says stiffly.

"Um," Gunn says, cutting the tension a bit. "I'm the new guy here, so there's a lot I still ain't privvy to, so..."

"Well," Wesley says. "This...relationship...that Buffy has with Spike is still new, to my knowledge."

She shrugs a shoulder. "Yes and no." That was true on  _so_  many different counts. At their looks of confusion she elaborates. "Technically pretty new, but really? It's been a long time coming; it's just neither of us realized it for a long time."

"But how would you even know they were together?" Gunn asks Angel. "Not like they said anything."

"The scent." Angel says, firmly looking away from her, glaring a bit at Spike. "I can smell him all over her."

"Okay, eww." Cordelia says. She didn't really seem surprised about her and Spike's relationship, funnily enough.

"You can  _smell_  things like that?" Gunn asks. She knew at this time he still wasn't  _too_ aware of all the ins and outs of vampires. He had known enough, at this point, to be able to take them out, but a lot of the fine intricasies were ones that many didn't learn or didn't have the time to learn (before they were killed.)

"Vampires have keen noses." Spike says, in lieu of Angel. "Not just the eyes and reflexes that improved on us, or the added strength. The nose can be pretty much like a bloodhound, though it can vary if some have better noses or not."

"The bloodline can have a lot to do with that as well." She says and Spike nods at her in obvious approval (he had acted unaffected by his own bloodline for a long time, but very recently she had seen an obvious pride in him when talking about the Aurelius line, despite some of the bad seeds in it.) "Stronger bloodline means stronger senses; it's why you'll see some fledges-and even some older vampires-who seem almost human when it comes to senses or strength, because they come from a weak bloodline. Ones that continually sire with weak vampires, creating just as, or weaker, vampires in return. Bloodlines like the Aurelius line are some of the strongest. Pretty sure Heinrich told Angel that often enough."

Angel finally turns to look at her and she sees the surprise, confusion, and wonder in his eyes and she knew it was due to what she said. The Buffy of old had known very little about the Aurelians, much less the Master's actual name or about the differences in vampires or their bloodlines, really.

She hadn't really  _tried_ , back then, to learn. Having the knowledge that she did now, she could easily look back and say that so much would have been different, even just having  _that_  knowledge.

Angel moves and takes a seat on the circular couch, rubbing at his forehead. Eventually he looks up at them, at her. She sees Spike take a stand next to her out of the corner of her eye and smiles when she feels him take her hand, squeezing it briefly.

"So." He says heavily. "What are you here in Los Angeles for?"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

She waits until Cordelia comes back, a drink for everyone, to begin. She murmurs a thanks to Cordelia as she passes her a cup of tea. She gets more comfortable in her chair (they had all taken seats on either the couch or chairs or, in the case of Gunn, on the stairs. Fred was sitting on the couch with Cordelia, looking a bit nervous and looking around a lot. She knew Fred was still dealing with a lot of aftershock of the things she had dealt with in Pylea, having been in there for a long time.)

She explains briefly the situation, talking about how she discovered the murders in the paper, mentioning Caleb's usual m.o., mentioned some stuff about Caleb himself that she knew. None of them look happy at hearing about such a crazed, utterly  _evil_ , killer was roaming their city, which was to be expected. Just knowing that Caleb was evil still  _existing_  made her stomach turn.

The fact that he was now setting up shop, even if only temporarily, in Los Angeles was both a curse and a blessing. She mourned the loss of life but him being so close was the opportune time to take him out once and for all (again. At least for her. The first time had been traumatic enough and she could only hope this didn't go as far as that.)

"And you're  _certain_  it's this man, Caleb, you said?" Wesley inquires. He was not quite the slightly darker, more rugged Wesley she had come to know about (and then to know, later, as his ghost had reappeared in San Francisco) but he was still a far cry from the tweedy, completely stuffy man she had first come to know in Sunnydale, who had tried to be her Watcher (and failed utterly. A failure she knew, as she looked back on it, that was a combination of her, his, and Giles' faults.)

"I'm not dismissing you or your information," He continues, teacup forgotten in hand. "It's only that the details all seem a bit...vague, at points. It is certainly an unusual calling card, to be certain, but-"

"It's him." She bites out, interupting him. She unconsciously rubs her arms. "I've dealt with him more than I've ever wanted to in my life. I  _know_. It's the same calling cards he left-left before." She very nearly said  _left in my previous life, in the future that no longer exists_  but she wasn't yet sure just how much information she wanted to share with them.

"You know anything about him, Angel?" Gunn asks, taking a drink of his coffee. "Seems like serious bad news. Like  _really_  bad."

"That's putting it  _really_ lightly." She says. She starts minutely as she feels Spike's hand over hers and finds her shoulders relaxing at the contact. Even without saying anything he knew just how to make her feel better.

"Never heard of him. I figured I would have." Angel says, frowning into his mug of blood. He hadn't took a drink since getting it from Cordelia. Buffy wondered if that was due to a combination of his conflicting thoughts on her (her and  _Spike_ , more specifically) as well as his not wanting to drink blood in front of her. He had always been weird about drinking blood in front of her, at least earlier on. Later on, in her (no longer existing) future, he had eventually gotten better about that and had felt more at ease about drinking it in front of her.

He turns to her now, a question in his eyes (at least he wasn't looking super angry now; that was a start.)

"Is he someone you dealt with recently? But it seems like you've known about him awhile..." Angel looks so honestly befuddled and confused that she doesn't know whether to laugh or pat him on the head.

She stills, glancing over at Spike, who remains blank faced. She isn't angry at him for it. She knows what he's doing; he's letting her choose which way she wants to go with this. She tightens her grip in his and she sees a small smile on his face.

She turns to give Angel her full attention now-ignoring his anger and jealousy at their held hands-and shrugs.

"Not like we've super kept up with each others' lives for a little while now, Angel." She says, ignoring his wince. "We've dealt with things in Sunnydale. Not  _everything_ -thank god-is apocalypse level. Doesn't change the danger he brings or  _can_  bring. He's evil." And that wasn't words she said lightly, not anymore. Angel wouldn't understand the difference, but Spike would have a bit of a better idea about that, about her now.

"And Spike's been helping with that?" He asks skeptically.

She nods immediately. "Yep!" She looks over at Spike and smiles.

"Guess vampire muscle is pretty good muscle to have." Gunn says.

"Yeah, if he wasn't chipped maybe." Angel says. "Keeps him from hurting humans."

"Lot of other things to fight out there, mate." Spike says easily, sitting back, moving to put his arm around her shoulder.

She knew it was partly just to get under Angel's skin and partly because he wanted to. She nearly rolls her eyes at their postering, but manages to keep from doing so. Another part of it-a bigger part than Spike would ever like to admit to-was the fact that he was feeling insecure. Not because of lack of trust, but just because of their history (all three of them, in varying ways.)

"Where did you want to begin? I know some people," Gunn says. "Streetwise folk. If you're wanting information about murders, they've got eyes and ears everywhere."

"That'd be a  _great_ start and help. Thanks, Gunn." She says sincerely.

"Angel tell you our names?" Gunn asks, though he's smiling. "Pretty sure we haven't met before; I'd have remembered the Slayer."

"Oh she probably learned it from Willow." Cordelia says. "She calls sometimes and we talk."

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"What about the LAPD?" Buffy asks, in what actually sounds like a casual voice-to all but Spike, who knows better. He looks at her, waiting to see what she has to say.

Although she had told him many a thing already, he knew that there were still things she hadn't divulged yet; some because they didn't really matter in the great scheme of things (though he, of course, wouldn't mind hearing anything she had to say, even if she thought it insignificant), some she held close to the chest to be used later if need be, and some because they brought forth too many emotions from her.

He knew, from the vague words she had used once before, that his future self had hurt her before, in a way that was far from the physical fights they once had as adversaries. But although he knew that he, his future self, had hurt her, that she had forgiven him for it, whatever it had been. The thoughts of her and his future self did not make him as jealous as they had in the beginning when learning about it (it may have been twisted to be jealous of his own future self, but really he was jealous of the thought of  _anyone_  ever having been close to Buffy that wasn't  _him_ , of now.)

This question she asks them seems like one of those To Be Used As Needed things.

"I think," Buffy continues, pretty little forehead scrunched in what appeared to be deep thought, but he knew that the deep thought would be what to say, not what she was trying to 'remember'. "I heard something said at one point that you had a friend on the force? Info from guys on the streets is super useful, but it'd be smart to look at this from different angles, right?"

Everyone (that knew her, so that'd be Angel, the bird Cordelia, and Watcher jr Wesley) stares at her in surprise and he feels a bit annoyed. It wasn't like she was  _stupid._  If she had been, she'd have been the...

He has to hold back a grimace. She'd have been his Third, if she had been. If she'd been like the others. Them not knowing that she was a time traveler was no excuse for them being surprised at her showing smarts; she had shown plenty of that before; he'd been apart of it first hand many a time (often times with her having a few quippy lines to say during it.)

"I-I thought that was a good idea, but maybe..."

Buffy actually seems to deflate a bit in the silence and that moves him to do what he does next. He cradles her head in his hands and kisses her deeply. She kisses back immediately and he feels a warmth in his chest, full of love for her.

"Hey!" Angel says, in a token protest. But it sounds weak to Spike's ears, nearly forgotten as soon as its uttered, and he can only hope Buffy feels the same way.

He finally pulls back from his girl, who is all flushed and radiant now, a smile on her face for him.

"It's a  _great_  idea." He tells her, idly pushing back some of the hair from her face.

"It's certainly a good idea, Buffy," Watcher jr, Wesley, eventually says. "But your information is a bit late, as our friend on the force is no longer  _on_  the force."

"Hmm, really?" Buffy says, in a pouty sort of tone that nearly makes him laugh. She was having  _fun_  with this. "Can you contact...them...at all though? Even if  _they're_  not part of the force, they'd  _have_ to have some friends still on it though, right?"

"Getting police involved though?" Gunn asks, to no one in particular. "We've been down that road. And yeah, it was helpful at times, but supernatural and government don't seem to mix too well."

"If it's on a limited basis, I think it would be okay." Angel says, surprising Spike. Then again, he thinks, as he eyes Angel through careful eyes, he knew the elder vampire would all but fall onto a stake for Buffy's sake, if the situation called for it.

Well, so long as the situation didn't require him sticking around Ol' Sunnyhell, anyhow. It was only due to Buffy's obvious love for him, Spike, that he didn't feel so jealous anymore of Angel. Angel might have had Buffy first, but there were still a lot of firsts Spike had with her. And even more so than that, the most  _important_  thing, he had her love.

And he'd gladly stake himself before he ever hurt her.

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I hope you enjoyed this!

Let me know what you thought!

-PhoenixJustice


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